گردشگری فرهنگ (Jul 2024)
Enhancing Religious Tourism in Historical Urban Fabrics through Urban Design (Case Study: Noghan Neighborhood, Mashhad)
Abstract
The shrine of the Eighth Shiite Imam in Mashhad, the most prominent religious and pilgrimage site in Iran, attracts numerous domestic and international tourists annually. The Noghan neighborhood, with its rich historical and cultural background, is one of the most notable areas adjacent to the Razavi Shrine, continually drawing the attention of pilgrims and tourists. The implementation of renovation plans with a singular focus on the concept of pilgrimage as the primary objective, neglecting the historical and religious identity capacities of the area, has legitimized the reconstruction approach. This approach, by reducing the concept of pilgrimage and the sacred realm to a simple stay-visit point, has disregarded or eliminated many of the existing physical-functional capabilities. This study aims to articulate the concept of religious tourism as a holistic and integrative view of the capabilities of historical religious fabrics and the spatial qualities that influence them. A suitable urban design model for the historical Noghan neighborhood is presented to enhance religious tourism as an exemplary case. The research methodology is both qualitative and quantitative, and in terms of its objective, it falls under applied research. To collect data, reputable scientific sources and the opinions of urban design experts were utilized, and the results were evaluated using content analysis techniques. The research findings indicate that enhancing religious tourism through design-oriented interventions can play a win-win role in modernizing historical cities. In the derived design model, the functional, physical, movement, and accessibility dimensions of the existing urban fabric, respectively, had the most significant impact on enhancing the status of religious tourism in the historical Noghan neighborhood.
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